You might get into the situation where you have to quickly clone your production database to a different server for some release management. In most situations, you will not be able to take that database down, neither have the time to do backup & restore so online transaction consistent database cloning will be a great tool for you. The capability of IBM VDS & DS8000 FlashCopy & vShadow with a bit of scripting can provide you with just that. Below is a small batch files with explanation which can do just that.

======== fcm.bat ========

You might get into the situation where you have to quickly clone your production database to the same server for some release management. In most situations, you will not be able to take that database down, neither have the time to do backup & restore so online transaction consistent database cloning will be a great tool for you. The capability of IBM VDS & DS8000 FlashCopy & vShadow with a bit of scripting can provide you with just that. Below is a small batch file with explanation which can do just that.

==============Fcm2.bat================

del bc1.xml sc1.cmd

C:\fcm2\vshadow.exe -p -t=bc1.xml -script=sc1.cmd y:

echo c:\fcm2\fcmmount.bat >> sc1.cmd

c:\fcm2\vshadow -i=c:\fcm2\bc1.xml

c:\fcm2\sc1.cmd

===============================

===========fcmmount.bat==========

c:\fcm2\vshadow -el=%SHADOW_ID_1%,D:\mytest

c:\fcm2\vshadow -bw=%SHADOW_SET_ID%

====================================

In order for the script above to work you have to create the two batch files with the same names shown above each.…

Although cloning a boot from SAN LUN & Database LUNs to another server or to the same server still not integrated into the current FCM release & planned in the future, its achievable with a bit of scripting, which might require DSCLI access for certain operations. This section will focus on cloning & show how to achieve few cloning scenarios even before it’s fully integrated with IBM Tivoli FlashCopy manager, which is planned as a part of future release.

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Back to: IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Tutorial Index…

Tivoli FlashCopy Manager offers as great amount of options when it comes to restore as it has for backup. This section will cover the most used ones. The type of features & destination types available will be limited if you don’t have TSM integration. The features & destinations which is only available with TSM integration will be pointed as they are covered.

1-     To start the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager in a stand alone server all you have to do is to click on the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager on the desktop or your program files menu. If you are running in a clustered environment, then you would want to to ensure you start your FCM with the /sqlserver parameters. An example of the command to run the FCM GUI in a clustered environment with an SQL Cluster  name sqlsrvpoc is:

C:\Program Files\Tivoli\FlashCopyManager\flashcopymanager.msc…

Tivoli FlashCopy Manager offers a great amount of options when it comes to backup. This section will cover the most used ones. The type of features & destination types available will be limited if you don’t have TSM integration. The features & destinations which is only available with TSM integration will be pointed as they are covered.

1-     To start the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager in a stand alone server all you have to do is to click on the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager on the desktop or your program files menu. If you are running in a clustered environment, then you would want to to ensure you start your FCM with the /sqlserver parameters. An example of the command to run the FCM GUI in a clustered environment with an SQL Cluster  name sqlsrvpoc is:

C:\Program Files\Tivoli\FlashCopyManager\flashcopymanager.msc…

Tivoli FlashCopy Manager can be operated using the GUI Interface as well using Command line. Actually one of the greatest enhancements in IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager v2.1 when compared to Tivoli Copy Services & Advanced Copy Services is the great fresh Graphical Interface & the easiness of backup & restore operations. Below are few snapshots of the new amazing IBM Tivoli FlashCopy manager interfrace:

Back to: IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Tutorial Index…

If you have IBM Tivoli Storage Manager in your environment and you have a Tivoli Data Protection license for the server you have installed Tivoli FlashCopy Manager on, you will need to go through the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager TSM Configuration Wizard as shown below, else you will want to look at the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager Local Configuration Wizard as illustrated in Section 6.1.

1-  Start IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager: start => All Programs => Tivoli FlashCopy Manager

2- Expand the menu in the left side of IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager and browse to Wizards as showing in the image below. Double click on the TSM Configuration.

3- Check Mark SQL Server and then hit next.

4- On the Requirements Check Page ensure all the status is passed.…

If you don’t have IBM Tivoli Storage Manager in your environment or you don’t have a Tivoli Data Protection license for the server you have installed Tivoli FlashCopy Manager on, you will need to go through the IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager Local Configuration Wizard as shown below. If you have Tivoli Storage Manager & have acquired a TDP license for the server you want to backup, skip this section directly to section 6.2 to run the TSM Configuration Wizard. To configure IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager using the local configuration wizard, follow the steps below:

1-     Start IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager: start => All Programs => Tivoli FlashCopy Manager

2-     As soon IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager run, it will start the Local Configuration Wizard.…

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy manager has two configuration wizards Local Configuration Wizard & TSM Configuration Wizard. The configuration wizard you will use to configure Tivoli FlashCopy Manager depends on your environment. If you don’t have IBM Tivoli Storage Manager in your environment, then you will use the Local Configuration Wizard. If you have IBM Tivoli Storage Manager in your environment & you have a Tivoli Data Protection License for the server you want to protect, you should use the TSM Configuration wizard to configure you Tivoli FlashCopy Manager.

Although integrating IBM Tivoli Storage Manager with IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager is optional, it’s required to send the backup to TSM Server as well to enable certain features. The table below illustrate some of the most important features of FCM & if they require TSM integration or not.…

Section 3 & 4 have shown how to prepare your host & storage for the Tivoli FlashCopy Manager Installation. This section cover IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager Installation. After obtaining your software either by a CD shipped by IBM or by downloading it from IBM Passport Advantage follow the below steps to install IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager on the SQL Server you want to protect. The installation procedure for a clustered & standalone SQL Servers are very similar, the differences will be noted in the procedure below. Though in a clustered environment, you will have to repeat the procedure below for each node in the cluster. Follow the below procedure to Install Tivoli FlashCopy Manager:

a. Double Click the Installer “Tivoli FlashCopy Manager CZ8VRML.exe”…